


The Call

by Dazzledfirestar



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: First Dates, Multi, Polyamory Negotiations, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-30
Updated: 2015-01-30
Packaged: 2018-03-09 18:15:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3259556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dazzledfirestar/pseuds/Dazzledfirestar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some things are easier to deal with with the right back up. After DC, it makes sense to keep your friends close.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Call

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bouzingo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bouzingo/gifts).



She could never quite pin down how it happened. Steve obviously was the linchpin to the whole situation. He had this way of drawing people in without really trying. She’d noticed that even working undercover in his apartment building. People liked him, wanting to spend time with him and he was really awful about saying no. She could see it though, after everything that happened. After they dredged the Potomac. After she signed up for the CIA and was thoroughly disappointed in almost everything about their system.

After he called. 

The thing was, Sharon had figured that dating a fugitive and former national icon would be tricky but he’d gotten good at hiding in plain sight. Dates were low key dinners, movies. Normal stuff. It was refreshing actually. The thing she wasn’t expecting was a couple months in, on her living room couch with her bra still on only through force of will. “Look, we need to talk before this happens…”

She sat up. “Okay…” to say she’d been caught off guard was understating things a little. A million reasons why Steve would stop short went through her brain. Most of them completely irrational of course—the serum means he’d shoot through her back, his penis fell off in the process—but that moment of paranoia was enough to have her reaching under her blouse and doing her bra back up. “What is it?”

“I’m… kind of sleeping with someone else and I don’t want to freak you out because I really care about you but I care about him too and—“

“Is it Sam?” She smiled at the shock on his face. She wasn’t sure who else Steve had let in close enough for that kind of connection but Sam was the only logical choice in her had.

“Y-yeah. How did you know that?”

“Lucky guess.” She shrugged a shoulder. “Does he know?”

“Yeah.”

“And he’s okay with it?”

“Yeah.”

“So you want to know if I’m okay with it too?” She smiled a little wider.

“Yeah.”

“Steve,” Sharon shook her head. “It’s not a conversation if you just keep saying the same word over and over again.”

“Right. Sorry.” He smiled and the blush on his cheeks darkened just a little. “I know it’s not conventional or something most people would even be willing to talk about…”

“I’m willing.” She smiled. “What are you thinking? Just… date each of us or should I get to know Sam a little better before I agree to anything?” She was really only half joking.

“Would… would that be an option? I mean if you two hit it off. I’m not—“

“We’ll see, okay?” Sharon reached over and pulled him in for a kiss. “The other option is definitely something I’m okay with though.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” She smiled. “Look, the kind of life we all live… I never really saw the point of denying more love in there. We should all get as much as we can in the off hours.”

“I hadn’t thought about it like that.” Steve smiled, pulling her close for another kiss. “So… we’re good?”

“Yeah. We’re good. But you have to contribute more than ‘yeah’ in the future.”

The laugh that got was almost better than the shocked look she’d gotten earlier.

~*~*~*~

He was pretty settled into the idea. It wasn’t the first time he’d been in an open relationship, though this one was a little more specific than his first kick at the can. That seemed to work better for him in the back of his mind. And the times he’d met Sharon with Steve, he liked her. A lot. Even without the connection to Steve the thought of spending some quality time with her was something Sam could totally get behind. They’d shared some stories and exchanged numbers but Sam found himself questioning whether it was a good idea or not to take that step while her and Steve were still in the early stages of their relationship.

Then she called.

That was how he ended up laughing so hard that he’d almost fallen out of the chair in the small coffee shop in Langley. “They didn’t notice?”

Sharon shrugged, sipping her coffee—he was pretty sure she was just trying to hide the smirk but he’d caught sight of it earlier—and picking at the cinnamon roll in front of her. “To be fair, the crossfire was pretty intense but I have no idea why a terrorist group would throw something like that into the mix. They probably thought it would be enough of a distraction to give them an edge.” She laughed. “I’ve never had to hold back that hard in my life. Nothing like seeing SHIELD’s toughest alpha dogs covered in pink silly string.”

“I would have paid to see that.” Sam straightened up and wiped the tears from his eyes before sipping his coffee again. 

“I’m sure someone’s got some proof somewhere.” She smirked. “I’ll see what I can dig up.” She took another bite of her roll. “The glitter though. It showed up everywhere for months.”

Sam laughed again. “Yeah, my sister calls it the herpes of the craft world.” He reached over, taking a bit off the roll with a smirk. “I can only imagine what that would do to an assault rifle.”

“R&D worked it out eventually.” Sharon shrugged. “So… are we going to treat this like any other date or are we going to talk about what Steve wants us to take our sweet time with?”

Sam’s smile shifted. He liked her. A lot. A _lot_ a lot. And this was why. No bullshit. No dancing around things. She was straightforward, clear, smart. Yeah, he could definitely see why Steve wanted her around. “Sure, we can talk about it.” He took another sip of coffee. “I like you, Sharon. Even without the Steve factor I’d like to spend some time with you.”

“I feel the same. You’re a hell of a first date.” She smiled. “But with the Steve factor?”

“With the Steve factor?” Sam sat back and thought about it. It was the least he could do, of course. And he’d promised himself to really think this stuff through this time. If he couldn’t figure it out, they’d talk it out. “I think the three of us could be good. Really good. It’s a little early to tell, of course.” She nodded in acquiesce. “But,” he smiled and reached over, putting his hand on hers. “I can definitely see potential.”

She smiled a little wider and it seemed like she relaxed a little more, letting go of the tension he hadn’t even realized she’d been carrying. “I couldn’t agree more.” She slowly, deliberately laced their fingers together. “But you’re going to have to buy me dinner before you get past hand holding.”

He laughed again. “Okay. Deal.” His smile turned into a smirk. “What are you doing tonight?”

~*~*~*~*~

He wasn’t going to push. That had been his own personal rule for all of this. In all the reading and researching he’d done, that was the firm and hard rule. He was absolutely not going to push either of them into anything they weren’t comfortable with. He’d told them both over and over again that if anything felt off, they didn’t have to do this. They’d both told him to trust them. That they knew what they wanted and what was and wasn’t comfortable. He was doing his best with that.

It didn’t stop him from imagining though. Picturing what it would be like to have them both there with him. To kiss Sam as Sharon ran her hands over both of them. To cuddle up together on the couch, the two of them teasing him about whatever movie he’d chosen for the evening. Home-cooked dinners that would probably lead to ordering in very late in the evening. All the relationships stuff he’d never gotten a chance to do before and wanted with both of them.

Then they called.

When Sam told him the two of them were together—really together, like he was with both of them—the weight lifted and he knew this could work. Which seemed silly given it had only just started up. But it all, slowly, fell into place. In between her work and Sam’s and his search, they found those moments together and if Steve was 100% honest about it, everything got easier knowing they had his back and he had a place to go that was safe and warm.

And every so often, he pulled back, watched them together and smiled. The artist in him wanted to capture everything about them pressed together. Sam’s hand on Sharon’s breast. Her lips on his throat. The way they moved together as he watched. If he were more musical, he’d want to capture the soft breaths and moans and gasps too.

“You joining in Cap or is it a watching kind of night?” Sam smiled over at him and Sharon reached out, trailing her fingers up Steve’s thigh.

Steve smiled. “You know me.” He ran a hand down Sam’s back and pressed a deep kiss to Sharon’s lips. “Always willing to answer the call.”


End file.
